One hobby I had as a kid was collecting stamps and at the time, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to what was on the stamps but more on which stamps I was missing. A few had more meaning to me, places I had seen like Devils Tower, youth groups I was in like FFA and 4-H, the stamps dealing with Wisconsin and the six cent sheep stamp.
Mixed in the three cents stamp is one honoring the four chaplains who gave comfort and gave up their life jackets when the United States Army Transport Dorchester sank after being hit by torpedo on February 3, 1943. The four Army chaplains brought hope in despair and light in darkness and as the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains–arms linked and braced against the slanting deck when more than 670 men died.
Traditionally, the first Sunday in February is Four Chaplains Sunday and the local American Legion veterans rotate between the area churches to honor what the long forgotten three cent stamp found in my collection called “these immortal chaplains”.
These Immortal Chaplains
More information on the Four Chaplains click on this link
Click here for a video on the the Four Chaplains